Toy railway bridge



Nov. 4 1924.

H. C. lVES TOY RAILWAY BRIDGE Filed May 10 1924 Patented Nov. 4, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HARRY C. IVS, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE IVES MANUFAC-TURING CORPORATION, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CON-NECTICU T.

TOY RAILWAY BRIDGE.

T o all whom t may concern:

Be it known that HARRY C. IvEs, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Bridgeport,`in the county of Fairfield and State ofConnecticut, has invented certain new and useful Improvements in ToyRailway Bridges, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention relates to an improved toy railway bridge, an objectbeing toprovide a structure of this character which will be realistic inappearance, and will be of simple and reliable construction. In toyrailway systems the power of the locomotives is not usually suiiicientto negotiate a steep grade without diiiculty, so that relatively lighbridges with rapidly inclined approaches are more or less impractical,and, at the same time it is highly desirable that the bridge should beof sufficient height to give the proper appearance of a realisticbridge. With` this in'view, it is a further object to provide a bridgestructure which will be of suiiicient height to give the appearance of abridge, and at the same time having approaches of relatively lowinclination.

Another object is to' provide a bridge structure in which the trackagewill be protected, so that it will not become bent or broken throughrough usage.

As is well known, toy railway systems are of two types, those havingmechanically powered locomotives and operating upon two rail trackage,and those having electrically powered locomotives and operating uponthree rail trackage including a third or ower `rail. In the manufactureof accessories, such as brid es, both kinds have been manufactured asindependent items with the particular type of track built into the same,with the result that the manufacturer was apt to be overstocked with onetype and have a shortage of the other. It is an object of the invention,therefore, to provide a bridge structure which may be manufactured inany desired quantities, and to which standard track lengths, of eitherthe two or 'three rail type, may be readily secured in the necessaryamounts as occasion demands, so that the manufacturer is enabled toaccurately control his output to the particular requirements of themarket.

With the above and other objects in view, an embodiment of the inventionis shown in -the accompanying drawings, and this em- Fig. 3 is alongitudinal sectional view,

taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross section, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 5 is an enlarged section of one of the sleepers and an end of thebridge section, illustrating in detail the method of fastening one tothe other;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the intermediate bridge section, beforeattachment of the track section; and

Fig. 7 is a detached plan view of a three rail electric toy tracksection, also adapted to be secured to the center bridge Section.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral figures of the drawings.

Referring to the drawings, the bridge structure shown therein is of thethree section type comprising an intermediate section of full length,and end approach sections of high length, it being understood however,that this arrangement may be reversed, the intermediate section being ofhalf length and the approach sections of full length, or that all ofthem may be of the same length.

According to the present embodiment of their margins impressed torepresent ma` sonry in "imulation of bridge arches, and the terraceportions are preferably painted to represent grass and foliage, androughly im ressedto add to its realistic appearance.

e bed 10 is provided centrally and at each end with de ressed sleeper ortie seating recesses 17, t e portions yof the bed between these recessesbeing roughly impressed to give the appearance of gravel or cinders. Ateach end of the bed there are provided extended Hap portions 18, as'shown in Fig. 6, for securing the track sections thereto, as willpresently appear.

A series of transverse reinforcing brace bars 19 are provided at theunder side'of the structure, being soldered at their endsto the `undersides of the terrace portions and at their intermediate portions to theunder surfaces of the recesses 17, thereby providing a rigid structurein which the raised bed is firmly supported.

The standard track sections are either of the two rail type, as shown,for lnstance in Fig. 2, or of t e three rail type, as shown in Fig. 7.The rails 20 are formed from sheet metal bent to produce a hollow treadland a anged base, and are mountedupon the spaced end and intermediatesleepers or ties 21, being secured vthereto by means of clamping lu s 22struck from the upper surface of the s eepers. The sleepers are in theform of' channels having outwardly bent base flanges 23 along theirlongitudinal edges.

The track section, either of the two or three rail typeis secured to'thebridUe by seating the same upon the bed 10, wit the sleepers engaged inthe seating recesses 17 and having their ends engaging the side l walls11 and 12 of the channel to position the track transversely. The endflapportions 18 are thereupon bent over into clamping relation with theend flanges 23 of the end sleepers, and the track section is therebysecurely fastened and held against either transverse or longitudinalshifting. Fig. 2 shows the bridge provided with track of the two railtype, while Fig. 7 shows the three rail electric track also adapted forattachment to the bridge in the same way.

The bed channel-is ofsuch depth'thail the upper surfaces of the terraceportions are substantially flush with the upper tread surfaces of therails, so that while the bridge has the appearance of being relativelyhigh, the actual height of the tracks, and'therefore the grade of theapproaches thereto, are relatively low. The channel structure alsoprotects the tracks, so that there is very little likelihood of thetracks becoming bent or broken from rough usage.

The ends of the terrace portions extend beyond the ends of the bed andtracks, and serve .to overlap the ends of the approach sections, as willpresently more fully ap A pear, and at one end one of lthe 4terraceportions is provided with an extended apertured portion 24, for thepurpose of fixing 'the 'Y position of the bridge upon a suitablesupport, or for hanging the same up when not in use.

The approach sections are similar in their /generalfformation andstructure to the intermediate section, being provided with a 'channeledbed and the track sections being positio'ned transversely in the channeland attached at their ends by bent over flanges in a similar manner. Theterrace portions 25 and 26, however, are of smaller size than theterracel portions 13 and 14, so that they fit at their projected innerends under the ends of said latter portions, thereby giving theappearance of a continuous terrace. The upper surfaces of the terraceportions 25 and 35 2G, as well as the bed, are inclined so that thetrack rises from the normal level of the adjacent trackage to the raisedlevel of the bridge track. It will be understood that the outer ends ofthe approach sections are attached to the adjacent trackage by the,fixed pins 27 provided in the1 ends .of the rails and adapted to beinserted in the hollow ends of the adjacent rails, and that theyapproach sections of the bridge are attached to the intermediate sectionin a similar manner.

I have illustrated and described. a preferred and satisfactoryembodiment yof the invention, but it will be obvious that changes may bemade therein, within the'spirit and scope thereof, as defined in theappended claims.

Having thus de'scribed my invention, what.

I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a base having a raisedtrack bed, side walls atthe longitudinal edges of said bed formingtherewith a channel, and supporting means extending downwardly from saidside walls with their lower edges below the plane of said bed, and railsattached to said bed between said side walls.

2. A toy railway bridge structure, com- 11'5 prising a base having` araised track bed, side walls at the longitudinal edges of said bedforming therewith a channel, and supporting means extendingdownwardlyfrom said side walls with their lower edges below the plane of said bed,and tracks comprisin ties and rails attached thereto, and attache tosaid bed with the ends of said ties in engagement with said side wallsto position the track transversely 3. toy railway bridge structure,comprising a sheet metal base' consisting `of a raised track bed, sidewalls bent upwardly along the longitudinal edges of said bed, andsupporting terrace portions bent out- 13 wardly and downwardly from theupper edges of said side walls with their lower edges below the plane ofsaid bed, and rails attached to said bed between said side walls.

4. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseconsisting of af tached thereto, and attached to said bed with the tieseated in said depressions and having their ends engagingsaid side wallsto position the track transversely.

5. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseconsisting of a raised track bed, side walls bent upwardly along thelongitudinal edges of said bed, and supporting terrace portions'bentoutwardly and downwardly from the upper edges of said side walls withtheir lower edges below the plane of said bed, reinforcing brace bars atthe under side of said base secured at their ends to'y the under sidesof said terrace portions and at their intermediate portions to the underside of said bed, and rails attached to said bed between said sidewalls. f

6. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a base havin a raisedtrack bed, side walls at the longitudinal edges of said bed formingtherewith a channel, and supporting means extending downwardly from saidside walls with their lower edges below the plane of said bed, railsattached toY said bed between said side walls, and -inclined detachableapproach sections secured to the ends of said tracks.

7. A toy railway` bridge structure, comprising a base having a raisedtrack bed, side walls at the longitudinal edges of said bed formingtherewith a channel, and supporting means extending downwardly from saidside walls with their lower edges below the plane of said bed, railsattached to said bed between said side walls, and inclineddetachableapproach sections secured to the ends of said tracks, and comprising abase' having an inclined bed, side walls at the longitudinal edges ofsaid bed, supporting means extending downwardly from said side walls'andhaving their lower edges in a horizontal plane, and rails attached tosaid bed between said side walls.

` track section engaged upon said bed, means on said base adapted toposition said track section transversely, and clamping means on saidbase adapted to clamp said track section on said bed and retain the sameagainst longitudinal movement. i

9. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseconsisting of a raised track bed, side walls bent upwardly along thelongitudinal edges of said bed, and supporting terrace portions bentoutwardly and downwardly from the upper ed es ,of said side walls withtheir lower edgesglielow the plane of said bed, a track section engagedon said bed between said side walls and positioned transversely thereby,and clamping means on said base adapted to clamp said track section tosaid bed and retain the same against longitudinal movement.

10. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseincluding a track bed having extended clamping flap portions at itsends, and a track section engaged on said bed comprising end ties andrails secured thereto, said flap portions of said bed being bent overupon sald end ties to clamp said track section to the bed.

11. A toy ,railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseincluding a track bed having tie seating recesses adjacent each end andextended clamping portions at its ends adjacent said seating recesses,and a track section engaged on said bed comprising end ties and railssecured thereto, said ties being seated in said recesses and saidclamping portions of said bed being bent over upon said end ties toclamp `said track section to the bed.

12. A toy railway bridge structure, comprising a sheet metal baseincluding a track bed and side walls bent upwardly along thelongitudinal edges thereof, said bed being provided at its ends withextended clamping portions, and a track section engaged on said bedbetween said side walls comprising end ties and rails secured thereto,said track section being positioned transversely by said side walls, andsaid clamping portions bein bent over upon said end ties to clamp saidtrack section to the bed and position it longitudinally.

Si ed at Bridgeport in the county of Fair eld and State of Connecticutthis 8thy day of May A. D., 1924.

HARRY C. IVES. Witnesses C. M. NEWMAN, MIRIAM GODDARD.

